Competitive Strategies

Tablet point-of-sale terminal seller Revel Systems on Thursday unveiled its Insights by Revel service and noted a 137% growth rate in terminals for 2016. Insights by Revel enables Revel merchant to monitor business activities as they happen. “Owners and managers can oversee labor remotely, and even detect who worked overtime, …

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults now carry a general-purpose credit card, and credit cards are gaining popularity with young adults, according to new consumer survey findings from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The Maynard, Mass.-based research and consulting firm reported this week that 63% of U.S. consumers have a major-brand credit …

It may be called artificial intelligence, but the potential this technology opens up for payments and banking is turning out to be very real. Earlier this week, yet another major messaging platform agreed to support chatbots that would let its users transfer funds, check their bank balances, and perform other …

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) has launched what it calls a network of early-stage financial-services technology startups that it says w The FIS HiPo Network, short for “high potential,” so far includes half a dozen fintech startups: Akouba, an online platform for the processing of small-business loans; Bleu, a …

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Chase Pay mobile-payments service has added an order-ahead feature that relies on functionality developed by LevelUp, a Boston-based mobile-payments and mobile-loyalty company. The new feature is available today for Chase Pay users at quick-service restaurants in Boston and will be usable at QSRs nationwide in “coming …

U.S. merchants processing with Vantiv Inc. that want to court international e-commerce customers now can offer these shoppers alternative payment methods unique to their locations. Vantiv announced on Tuesday it is working with PPRO Group, a London-based payments provider, to enable non-card payment methods, such as direct debit, bank transfers, cash-based electronic …

A demand-deposit account is the anchor liquidity instrument for most consumers and businesses. For some members of the unbanked, it’s a GPR-prepaid-card account. Policymakers and commercial actors are moving to enable real-time payments between DDAs at thousands of U.S. banks. Policymakers aim to improve payment-system efficiency and enable new and …

The U.S. Treasury Dept.’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, plans to create a special-purpose national bank charter for financial technology companies, a booming field in which payments firms play prominent roles. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry divulged the planned charter during a speech Friday at …

Few consumers like waiting in lines to pay, especially at grocery stores. One California grocery chain is taking steps to make it easier for shoppers pay for their purchases with the launch of a self-checkout app. The California Fresh Market location in San Luis Opisbo, Calif., is using Future Proof …

• In a study of more than 900,000 merchants, processor First Data Corp. says retail spending from Thanksgiving through CyberMonday (Nov. 28) grew 5.8% from year-earlier levels; brick-and-mortar retailers saw spending grow 4.1% while e-commerce spending jumped 14.3%. • European software firm Comtrade Digital Services has built an automated banking platform for the Viber messaging app, …